News on Land

GLTN’s Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM) has acquired a surprising application in the identification of vulnerable households. A case in point is in Nepal where the GLTN in collaboration with UN-Habitat Nepal Country Office, and its local partner Community Self Reliance Centre (CSRC) have been implementing the “Support to Land Reform Initiatives in Nepal” project.

Environment rangers and community members patrolled the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary 511 times within the first four months of the year and prevented 399 forest crimes in four provinces.

Ministry of Environment secretary of state and spokesman Neth Pheaktra said on Thursday that a report on the management and protection at Prey Lang showed that 32 cases of logging and land clearing had been sent to the courts for legal action.

In 42 cases involving nearly 100 people, cease and desist contracts had been signed.

The government authorities seem content that people are obeying the lockdown regulations which keep on changing at the local level. The authorities believe that there is a positive correlation between the lockdown on the streets and public safety from the spread of the virus: the stricter the lockdown, the safer the population.

Some 37 members of the “Nagkahiusang Mag-Uuma sa Pindasan og Pangibiran” (NAGMAPPA) from the Davao de Oro town of Mabini withdrew their support from the leftist “Kilusan ng Mambubukid sa Pilipinas” (KMP), the Army's 71st Infantry Battalion (71IB) said Thursday.

In a statement on the same day, members of the NAGMAPPA expressed their dismay towards the failed promises of the KMP such as tracts of land.

Moments after President Muhammadu Buhari’s latest address to the nation on the cumulative lockdown order of Lagos and Ogun states as well as the Federal Capital Territory,  the media went into a frenzy, with discussions centered on how farmers and agricultural extension professionals can jointly and collaboratively ensure that the nation’s food supply chain is not altered as the nation continues to battle the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Fitch Ratings-Hong Kong-06 May 2020: China's new policy granting greater autonomy to provincial-level governments over land conversions and farmland acquisitions will assist fiscal and economic performance in the medium to long term, via increased governance efficiency of land management on the local level, Fitch Ratings says. Still, Fitch believes the reforms maintain the protection of farmland as a top priority, thus an aggressive conversion plan at the national level appears unlikely for environmental and agricultural reasons.

Fear of the virus and job loss in cities are pushing many back to the countryside, reversing a decades-long trend of urban migration and raising alarm about a public health crisis in rural areas.

Kampong Thom provincial governor Sok Lou said he would investigate a land conflict in Boueng Leav commune, Santuk district, where villagers have accused an agriculture official of destroying their cashew farms. The official claims it was the villagers who illegally occupied the land.

The governor said on Tuesday he could not yet judge which side is right or wrong.

“I will go down to see the place, but I just want to say for now that the location was a protected area and no villagers lived there before.

The Oyo State Government has launched a digitised Certificate of Occupancy issuance platform as part of its strategy for growing the Gross Domestic Product of the state.

According to a statement issued by the Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Abiodun Abdu-Raheem, the processing and collection of Certificate of Occupancy has become faster, easier and affordable.

The statement said that eligible property owners without title or approved documents should take advantage of the new offer.

In April, 13 suspects were charged in the Mondulkiri Provincial Court for encroaching on forest land in wildlife sanctuaries at Phnom Prich, Srepok, Nam Lear, and Keo Seima, said Ministry of Environment secretary of state and spokesperson Neth Pheaktra.

The sanctuaries are protected under the Law on Natural Protected Areas. He said the 13 perpetrators violated articles 56, 60, and 62, which all concern destroying natural resources.

The International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) has said in Abuja that it has observed recurrent cases of land disputes arising from the lack of proper demarcation by the department of development control of the Federal Capital Territory Administration.

The country head of the IHRC in Nigeria, Ambassador Friday Sani at a press conference on Friday expressed concern that the body has also observed alleged violation of human rights by field officials of the department of development control of the FCTA.

April 30, 2020 (Ezega.com) -- The Addis Ababa City Government has demolished dozens of homes belonging to day laborers over the past three weeks, rendering at least 1,000 people homeless amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

Most of those whose homes have been destroyed recently lost their jobs due to the ongoing COVID-19 shutdowns told Amnesty International that they are now also having sleepless nights as authorities repeatedly confiscate tarpaulin or plastic sheeting they are using to shelter against heavy rains.